Projecting rail



w. HACHTEL 3,516,113

PROJECTING RAIL Filed March 8, 1968 June 23, 1970 INVENTOR BY W HACHTELMiG/um United States Patent 3,516,113 PROJECTING RAIL Wilhelm Hachtel,6994 Niederstetten, Germany Filed Mar. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 711,700 Claimspriority, applicfitigrzi 2Gsezrmany, Mar. 25, 1967,

Int. Cl. A4711 1/04, 15/00 US. C]. 16-94 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The invention relates to a projecting rail having on itsfrontface a guide groove with a rear wall formed by the rail body, abottom, and a front wall.

Projecting rails have the advantage that curtains or the like can besuspended in their guide groove in such a manner that the top edge ofthe curtain or the like also covers the front face of the rail when thecurtain is drawn. For this purpose, depending on the height of theprojecting rail, the curtains or the like are fastened just below theirtop edge to gliders or runner rings, which are guided in the guidegroove.

A disadvantage of known projecting rails is that they are of a specialtype which have to be manufactured specifically a projecting rails. Thisresults in expense in stock-keeping, manufacture, the production oftools and the like. In addition, it is practically impossible foravailable curtain rails to be converted into projecting rails.

The aim of the invention is to provide a construction which avoids theabovementioned disadvantages.

According to the invention these objects are achieved by the rail bodybeing formed by part of a per se known curtain rail, which on its frontface i provided with guiding and/or connecting ledges, and asupplementary bar forming at least the front 'wall of the guide groovebeing attachable to one of the guiding and/or connecting ledges. In thismanner it is possible for existing types of curtain rails to be used asoriginally intended as a base for a unit construction system and also tobe used immediately or subsequently as projecting rails. Suchsupplementary bars are able to give a novel appearance to known curtainrails, particularly when their bottom portion projects below the curtainrail and/ or has a determined color.

It is advantageous for the supplementary bar to be attachable to a lowerguiding and/or connecting ledge and optionally to be securable to therail body by a material joint in the region of its attachment. A groovewhich is open at the top, and in which gliders or the like can easily belocated, is thus formed in its customary position. In addition, theupper guiding and/or connecting ledge, which in any case is usuallypresent, can then prevent the runners or the like from jumping upwardlyout of the guide groove.

It is advantageous for the attachment to be in addition a lockingconnection. The supplementary bar can thereby be still better attachedto the curtain rail, so that it can withstand greater loads. Here againit is naturally possible for the material joint to be made with the aidof adhesive, or solvents or the like applied thereto.

It is advantageous for the locking connection to comprise anapproximately U-shaped profile on the rear side of the supplementarybar. The supplementary bar may then be made entirely plain at the frontand the connection position to the curtain rail will remain invisible.In

Patented June 23, 1970 addition, a U-shaped profile is particularlysuitable for clipping around the guiding and/or connecting ledges.

It is convenient to provide on the locking connection, preferably on theprofile, a relatively large surface which is situated relatively farfrom the locking region and which bears against the body of the rail.When large forces occur, for example resulting from a curtain, theeifect can thereby be achieved that the forces which attempt todisconnect the curtain rail and the supplementary bar are reduced.

According to a further development of the invention, provision is madefor one arm of the U-profile to engage by a flat surface beneath theledge and optionally also beneath the body of the rail and for the otherarm of the U-profile to have at its free end a thickened portionengaging in a groove. A connection of this type can withstand all forcesoccurring in practice.

Similarly, in the case of internal connecting ledges, the other arm ofthe U-profile may have at its free end a thickened portion engaging inanother groove and a surface contacting the front face of the curtainrail.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aprojecting rail which is not manufactured specifically as a projectingrail.

Another object of this invention is to convert a curtain rail into aprojecting rail.

A further object of this invention is to give a novel appearance toknown curtain rails.

These and other advantages, objects and features will be seen from thefollowing description of two exemplary embodiments in conjunction withthe drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section through a curtain rail together with asupplementary bar forming a projecting rail.

FIG. 2 is a similar section of the second exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a curtain rail 10 with a body 11 has a topconnecting ledge 12 and a bottom connecting ledge 14, both of which havegrooves 16 and 18 respectively. In addition, they have lips 20 and 22respectively. A supplementary bar 24 is by its approximately U-shapedprofile fitted by a locking connection on the bottom connecting ledge14. One arm 26 of the U-shaped profile has a flat surface 28 which isrelatively large and which engages beneath the connecting ledge 14 andpart of the body 11.

The other arm 30 of the U-profile has at its free end a thickenedportion 32 which engages in the groove 18. The connection just describedmay also be made into a material connection by coating the regions ofthe joint with an adhesive or solvent before they are fitted together.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the locking region is relatively far fromthe surface 28. Thus the active forces which attempt to disconnect thelocking connection are reduced.

In the embodiment given as an example the top portion 34 of thesupplementary bar 24 forms the front wall of a guide groove 36, whilethe front face 38 of the body 11 forms the rear wall of the groove. Thebottom of the groove is formed by the arm 30, while the lip 20 canprevent a runner or the like introduced into the guide groove 36 fromjumping out of the latter.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the connecting ledges 12 and 14of the FIG. 1 embodiment are replaced by differently shaped connectingledges 40 and 42. The connecting ledges 12, 14 on the one hand and theconnecting ledges 40, 42 on the other hand normally serve to connectcurtains together by a shape-determined connection and/or by a materialconnection, the connecting ledges 40, 42 engaging in the grooves 16, 18.

In the second embodiment there is once again engaged 'once'again' hasaJU-profile, the'bottoin'arm 44 ofwhi'ch" engages in a groove 46and'also has a cooperating surface 48 which is adapted to bear againstthe front face 50 and thus takes forces which attempt to turn thesupplementary bar 24 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2, that is tosay about a fulcrum lying approximately on the connecting ledge 42.

Although this invention has been described With reference to specificembodiments it should be understood that various modifications andchanges may be made by one'skilled in the art without departing from'thespirit or teachings of this invention.

I claim: a

1. A curtain'rail of the kind having an upwardly opening guide groove onits front face for curtain runners, comprising a rail body providedwitha ledge project'- ing forwardly from its front face and a supplementarybar forming at least the front wall of the guide groove attached to saidledge, said supplementary bar'having a pair of spaced ribs for'engagingabout said ledge.

2. A rail according to claim 1, wherein the supplementary bar is fittedto a lower guide ledge on the rail body.

3. A rail according to claim 1, wherein the supplementary bar isattached to said ledge through an interlocking connection.

4. A rail according to claim 3, wherein the interlocking connection isthrough clipping engagement of said pair of spaced ribs to said ledge.

5. A rail according to claim 1, wherein a surface is provided on thesupplementary bar, which surface bears against the rail body to resistdisconnection of the supplementary bar by downward forces on it.

6. A rail according to claim 1, wherein the ledge On said rail body hasa groove thereon and is aligned with the lower edge of the rail body,wherein one of said ribs 4 has a flat surface which engages theunderside of said ledge and the other rib has at its'fr'ee e'n'da;thickened portion engaging in said groove.

7. A rail according to claim 6, wherein said one rib extends beneath therail body.: I

8. A rail according to claim 1, wherein said ledge has grooves on bothits upper and lower side' and-is spaced from the lower'edge of said railbody, wherein both of said ribs have at their'free endsthickenedportio'ns -'engaging in respective grooves on the upper andlower sides of said ledge and the lower of the ribs has a surface matingwith the front face of the rail body.

9. A curtain rail of the kind having an upwardly opening guide groove onitsfront face for, curtain runners, comprising a rail body which isone'of a pair of interconnecting curtain rail bodies which are designedto engage each other by corresponding pairs of interengaging ledges, anda supplementarybar which 'exten'd's along a substantial portion of thelength'of said rail body to provide at' least the front wall of saidguide groove and is attached at its rear side to one of'the ledges onsaid rail body.

10. A curtain rail according to claim- 9, wherein said supplementary barhas a pair of spaced ribs on its rear side for interlocking attachmentwith said ledge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1961 Young 16+ 96X CASMIR A.NUNBERG, Primary Examiner Us. 01. X..R.

